Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí

Welcome to Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, Our name means the ‘friendship or association of fiddle players’.

We formed our organisation in the early 1980’s to help support and promote the art of fiddle playing in the Donegal tradition. We operate as a not-for-profit voluntary organisation and we invest all of our income directly into our events, programmes, publications, projects and support for living artists. Our work is recognised by An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council who provide vital financial support for our work.

Mission Statement

Our mission statement is simple – we want to:

strengthen Donegal fiddle playing at its roots

improve standards of fiddle playing

promote participation in all aspects of Donegal fiddle music

encourage the transmission of the Donegal styles and repertoire

If you would like to make a small donation to help us with our projects.
Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!

Follow Us!

John Doherty was born into a very musical travelling family in February 1900 in the Ardara area of Co Donegal. John's parents were Mickey Mór Doherty (Mór being an Irish word meaning big ) and Mary McConnell. Mickey Mór Doherty had a musical inheritance…

was born in 1889 in Pennsylvania , USA, to immigrant parents who had a great interest in maintaining their family's links to all aspects of Irish culture. They Boyles returned home to Donegal by the time that Neillidh was eight years old and set…

Dinny McLaughlin was born in 1935, in Shandrum near Buncrana in Inishowen, North East Donegal. At the time when Dinny was a boy “big nights” in houses were the main social events, as was the case all over Donegal. People would gather in a…

Con (6th July 1909 - 5th February 1994) a fiddler, was born and reared in Cruachlann, Teileann, where he was exposed to musical influences such as his cousins; John, Paddy and Frank Cassidy. Other players who were prominent at the time included Mick McShane, Jimmy Lyons…

(4th January 1946 - 8th November 2008) Without doubt, James Byrne (An Bheirneach) of Mín na Croise was one of the finest traditional fiddle players in Ireland. Along with his musical talent, he had great background knowledge of…

Tommy Peoples, from St. Johnston in East Donegal, was born in Letterkenny in 1948, into a musical family . His grandfather, Jimmy Peoples, his uncles Mattha and George Peoples and some cousins such as Joe Cassidy and Bob Peoples were fiddle players. Tommy's father Tom, while not known as a…

The Campbells, from near Glenties Co Donegal, are a very well known musical family. Brothers Vincent and Jimmy are very active fiddlers and are always in great demand while another brother, Columba, remains a very highly regarded fiddle player, though he doesn't play much these…